Deliveroo, Just Eat and UberEats commit to prevent illegal workers
The firms will continue to work closely with the government as they roll out their new operating procedures, to help them adapt to any emerging risks
Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats are taking significant steps to protect the British public’s safety by preventing exploitation of account sharing by those looking to work.
Michael Tomlinson, the minister for Countering Illegal Migration, and minister Hollinrake, the minister for Business and Trade, met with representatives from the three companies on Monday (1 May) for productive talks at the Home Office in London.
All three firms have now committed to changing their processes to confirm substitute riders have the right to work legally in the UK directly, with Deliveroo the first to roll out a new substitute registration feature, including right to work checks, earlier this month.
The firms will continue to work closely with the government as they roll out their new operating procedures, to help them adapt to any emerging risks.
It follows a visit to Deliveroo’s London headquarters by both ministers last week.
While substitution is a legitimate part of self-employment, a small minority of drivers have taken advantage of the system to avoid completing right to work checks, leading to an increase in operations by Immigration Enforcement to prevent this.
This leaves customers with no way of knowing if the person handing over their food can legally work in the UK. It can also leave delivery firms in the dark about whether their substitute drivers have the right to work in the UK.
Enforcement visits rose by 68% last year and arrests more than doubled, while returns of people with no right to be in the UK also increased by two-thirds.
A Deliveroo spokesperson said: “We take our responsibilities extremely seriously and are committed to strengthening our controls to prevent misuse of our platform. We are the first major platform to roll out direct right to work checks, a registration process and identity verification technology to ensure that only substitutes with right to work can continue riding on our platform. We will continue to work in close collaboration with the Home Office and leaders in industry to support efforts in this area.”
An UberEats spokesperson added: “At UberEats we are going to roll out identity verification checks to help ensure only those who legitimately use someone else’s account to earn with us are able to, and we are pleased to be working with the government to find a solution.”
A Just Eat spokesperson concluded: “We take our responsibilities on this issue seriously and have high expectations for couriers delivering on our behalf which is why we’re continuing our work together with industry and policymakers to develop a solution which will ensure couriers substituting their work do so in accordance with the law.”
